A MAN has told of the dramatic moment he was forced to jump out of a window to escape a fire that ripped through his Southampton home in the middle of the night.

The blaze broke out in a house on Charlton Road, Shirley, at about 4am and more than 25 firefighters from Redbridge, St Mary's, Totton and Eastleigh fire stations rushed to the scene.

Three people have been taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation after flames destroyed the back of the house.

A group of people forced out of the house by the fire were huddled in the cold until 8am, although their spirits remained high.

The 21-year-old resident, who gave his name as Mateusz, said: "I was asleep at about 3am and I had a nightmare so I woke up and I knew that something was wrong.

"I heard an alarm and I opened a door and saw the smoke and knew that I couldn't go down the stairs.

"I closed the door and opened the window and I went after my friend. I held her but she dropped to the floor. She is ok though."

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Mateusz said that although the back section of the house suffered severe damage, the closed door protected his belongings from the fire.

The conservatory at the rear of the building was completely destroyed, including bikes and other items inside.

Black smoke marks cover the outside of the house, while a neighbour told the Daily Echo he was woken up by the commotion.

Paul Gosling, 57, said: "I was woken up at about 4am and I could see the smoke was coming out so I thought there was obviously a fire.

"There's not a great deal of damage and I'm surprised.

"The fire service said the conservatory has gone up and it's frightening how easily it has spread."

Next door neighbour Charlie Nelson, 53, woke after hearing an alarm and then began to hear screaming and commotion through the wall.

He and partner Sarah Ingarfill, 51, were lucky to escape damage to their home after smoke began seeping through the dividing wall.

Firefighters were forced to run a water pipe through their house to help them extinguish the fire from the rear of the property.

Mr Nelson said: "I could hear the people in the house realised what was going on and there was shouting and screaming and stuff.

"I could see smoke coming out of the back windows and I rang the fire brigade.

"I walked out the front and the neighbours were standing outside and I don't think we realised how serious it was to start with.

"You can see where the smoke started coming under and through our wall."

Daily Echo: Charlie Nelson

Pawel Wojda, 24, was in the upstairs rear of the building with his girlfriend Natalie when the terrifying moments unfolded.

The pair were forced to jump from an upstairs window because the flames were so fierce escaping down the stairs was not possible.

He said: "We had two choices: die or get out.

"My girlfriend was so scared - I have never seen her before like that.

"The fire was too strong to go out and run so we had no choice.

"It's a tragedy, like in a film."

Despite being covered in soot and smoke, he was uninjured, but his girlfriend hurt her ankle in the jump.

Pawel, a Wetherspoons worker, told the Daily Echo that three people from the downstairs section of the house were taken to hospital and everyone from upstairs managed to escape.

He returned to the house after the fire and gathered what remained of his belongings before going to a friend's house.

Station Manager Steve Buchanan-Lee said: "Due to having smoke alarms fitted in their home, these residents were alerted to the fire and were able to get to safety. I have no doubt that if they had not had smoke detectors, due to the ferocity of the fire, we would have been dealing with a fatal incident this morning."

"This incident is not thought to be suspicious and a fire investigation will now take place.